The End Game-part 1
by Mislav
Summary: My version of season ten finale. The team has to face with possibly the biggest threat of all after thirty dismembered human torsos are found buried in Quantico Military Base. Meanwhile, the stalker that had been following Kate's niece won't wait any longer... case!fic. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

**Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language. **

**The strangest thing happened to me a month ago. I literally dreamed the way season ten finale would play out. And so I finally got around to writing it. This is is a case!fic and this story will end on a cliffhanger and have a sequel to follow immediately after, as a final episode so to say. Both stories will be five chapters long. It will deal with the human traficking ring shown in "X" and the stalker targeting Kate's niece and her friend, first shown in The Boys of Sudworth Place.**

**Read and review, please.**

Kate rushed out of her car, not bothering to lock the door behind. She ran over to the cabin, grabbed at the door knob and was surprised to find the dopr unlocked. She didn't think much about that and she just rushed in.

She stopped in her tracks upon seeing a young woman, that she had only met two days ago, sitting in an armchair, gun in her hand. There was a large pool of blood on the floor; still fresh, judging by the smell. Kate was so shocked that she didn't even reach for her gun.

"You...", she whispered, tears building up in her eyes. "You..."

The brunette didn't look up. "I did what had to be done", she said, her voice a mixture of sadness, determination and... guilt?

Kate glared at her, terrified. "What happened?", she asked desperately, her eyes closing back and forty around the room, looking for clues that could help her shed some light on the situation. She noticed nothing helpful.

The woman looked up at her, but didn't raise her gun. "Spencer didn't survive."

~FIVE DAYS BEFORE~

"Oh..."

Alan sighed before taking a sip of water, lying his back against his pick up truck parked near by. He and his friend Howard had just finished a lot of pipe related work in Quantico Military Base and Howard had just been digging their way to the last pipe. Alan looked around, growing impatient. It was so hot...

Once he turned his attention back to Howard, he noticed that his friend had slowed down, something othet than the pipe in the ground catching his attention. "Something wrong?", Alan asked, annoyed.

Howard moved to the side, pulling a bag closer for a more detail examination. "Something is buried in here... a trash bag."

Alan rolled his eyes in annoyance, looking at the side. "What a surprise."

"There's something inside...", Howard noted before looking inside the bag in order to examine the content.

It took him a few seconds to realize what was inside, and much less to climb back up out of the hole, screaming with the terror in his eyes.

"Oh, crap!"

Alan nearly jumped in place, then immediately turned his attention to the the hole and he bag laying on the bottom of it.

He screamed too, upon seeing a dismembered torso sticking out.

~THREE DAYS LATER~

Within three days, early in the morning, all BAU members were sitting around their table in the conference room, studying case files-except for Penelope who had been standing near by, about to start with her presentation.

She tried to hide a disgusted look on her face as she pressed on the remote, making crime scene photographs and forensic reports appear on the screen. "Two days ago workers who were fixing some underground pipes had discovered thirty dismembered human torsos buried all over Quantico Military Base", she explained, ignoring the strange feeling in her stomach. "I mean, they only discovered one, but then the police was called in, the area was searched and... ta-da! Mass grave."

"Some are just mildly decomposed while some had been reduced to nothing but skeletons by now", Aaron read.

"Forensic anthropologists estimate that the oldest torsos, so to say, had been buried there for about two years, more preserved ones for about two weeks", Spencer exclaimed.

"Meaning that the killer is probably somebody who has a constant access to the base over least last two years", Derek concluded. "Maybe a sergeant or one of the employees."

David wasn't convinced. "Not necessarily. All torsos had been buried on relatively remote and wide area locations."

"Which would explain why they hadn't been discovered for so long", JJ concluded.

"But still, to keep sneaking into a military base gor years, bury human torsos there and never get caught... that sounds very far fetched", Derek pointed out.

"Search recovered no other body parts but torsos", Kate read.

"Maybe the killer takes other body parts with him as trophies. Or for cannibalistic purposes", JJ suggested.

"Nobody is burying human body parts in the military base because of convenience. That place must have mean something to him", David concluded.

"Meaning that he might be burying other body parts somewhere else", Aaron pointed out.

"And we should look into people who have long history and relations regarding that place", Spencer noted.

"But no ask employes or soldiers since the killer probably still has access to that place", JJ added

"Are there any evidence to suggest that the killer may have some medical knowledge?", David asked.

Spencer took another look at the autopsy report. "According to a few preliminary autopsy reports, no. But it looks like he did grow more... experienced over time."

"And all bodies had been dismembered with the hand saw", JJ read."The same hand saw."

Spencer continued reading. "He did some over and inside the trash bags, probably to keep the bodies from smelling, but he also stuffed some trash into the bags, over the torsos: old newspapers, soda cans, rotten vegetables..."

"Maybe as a forensic countermeasure", Kate suggested. "To make bodies decompose faster and degree the possible forensic evidence."

"No official cause of that could have been determined, but there are obvious signs of violence on the bodies. Bruises, broken ribs, cuts and shallow stan wounds... even some burns."

"Murder, preceeded by torture", Aaron concluded.

"There is some evidene, although not really conclusive, that the victims might have been alive at the time they were dismembered."

Penelope groaned and looked away for a moment, and some people sighed. Even Spencer looked kinda uncomfortable.

"Pure sadist", Aaron eventually concluded.

"At least, with his burial sight now exposed and his victims about to be identified, he won't be able to keep up with the killings as easily as he once could", JJ suggested.

"But he won's stop either", Aaron concluded, standing up. "Wheels up in thirty."

#

A man in black leather jacket with sunglasses and a baseball cap on was sitting in his car, parked safe distance away from Kate's house, but close enough for him to be able to see Meg leave for school in her father's car, wearing that cute little red top again. He took a deep breath as the car drove away, shivering at the knowledge that he will have her soon.

~OPENING ROLES AND CREDITS~


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

**Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.**

**I know that usually team members should hardly be involved with the cases linked personally to them, but I believe that one would allow him/her to help out a little, and Hotch did allow Reid to assist with the investigation about Maeve'a disappearance because he knew some useful information about her and possibly the stalker (at first).**

**I know that Chris is Meg's uncle, but since Meg is basically his and Kate's adopted child I referred to him as the father. I will correct that in order to make it easier to read.**

_Spencer Reid: ~Perversion is a sleeping monster: art is a fanning mistress. Art serves the perversion that is deep and often dormant within human beings. Thiruman Archunan~_

The team kept studying the case files while heading toward the base in an airplane, looking for anything they might have overlooked in the office and catching up with the details that they didn't have time to read back in the precinct.

"The victims are of different genders and races, ages warrying from twenty to fifty", Aaron read.

"Well, that rules out hate crimes", JJ concluded.

"MEs couldn't determine were the victims sexually assaulted or not", Derek read.

"I am probably reaching here, but can this be about illegal organ or blood selling?", Kate suggested.

"Some of the torsos had been reduced to nothing but skeletons by now, but those few that are somehow well preserved don't seem to be missing any organs and are of different blood groups", Spencer explained.

"But most of the victims seem to be healthy, strong...", Aaron noted, reading the file.

"Probably a low risk victims", Derek added.

"No traces of alcohol or blood in their system, no diseases", JJ read.

Aaron look up at the other team members. "Such health and body shape can be what the unsub hates."

"Something that he had craved to be, but never accomplished."

"And now, he's taking it out on others", JJ concluded.

Kate groaned, closing her file and putting it aside. "He is obviously organised and experienced at what he does and most of the torsos had been buried in there for quite a while. We probably won't have much look with the forensics."

"They are still examining the bags and idoms found inside, but so far nothing", Spencer read.

Derek's ringtone went off. He pulled out his phone and couldn't help but smile Upon seeing Penelope's name. He immediately answered the call.

"Talk to me, baby girl", he said in his usual sweet talking, smooth way.

Penelope's face turned dark as she lowered her voice. "If only I wasn't on a speaker..." She widened her eyes, idea appearing in her mind. "I am, right?"

Derek smiled. "Right."

Penelope groaned. "Man... OK, I am still going through the records of soldiers and employes, looking for criminal records, disciplinary reports, anything that stands out. It is hard, even with our resources, because that data is very confedential. But I found one creeepy guy. Twenty two years old Frederic Johnson. He had been attending the military academy two years ago, mostly staying at the base. After five months he got kicked out. He was a trouble maker, even got drunk a few times. He once got into a fight with two female soldiers and threatened to "cut them to the pieces". He currently lived in the suburb with his aunt."

David frowned. "Still, I doubt that he is our guy. He doesn't seem very organised. And he no longer has an access to the base."

"We still have to talk to him", Aaron said. "We will do that after visiting the base."

#

Sergeant Danield Groves was waiting for then near the crime scene as arranged. He was a tall and well built man with short black hair and black eyes, of course, with his uniform on. They shook hands and exchanged hellos before they started heading closer to the exact place where the bodies were found, all of them remaining silent for the first few moments. "I hope you understand that it is in everyone's best interest for this case to be solved as soon as possible", Daniel eventually exclaimed.

"We will do our best", Aaron assured him, nodding his head.

"Do any of your employes have a criminal record?", David asked, making Daniel stop in his tracks and turn facing him. He almost looked offended, but he did remain calm.

"A few, but no major stuff. We are very careful about who do we employ."

"I noticed that you employ lots of volonteersfor minor jobs such as cooking and cleaning too", David noted.

"We rub a background check on them too", Daniel answered, almost cutting David off. Aaron observed that with a glow of suspicion in his eyes before turning his attention back to the ground work.

"This field seems more isolated from the rest of the area", he noted.

Daniel turned in his direction, seeming calmer. "Yes. But we stopped doing that about five years ago. Now we occasionally use it as a running track. It isn't decorated like one, so to say, but that is intentional. It feels more like an actual wild field."

David frowned as he observed many dug up holes-obviously the plačeš where torsos had been buried. "Most of the bodies had been buried over there, in the corner next to the fence", he noted, showing at the spot with his finger. "Probably not the place where one would run. The unsub wanted to reduce the chances of bodies being discovered to a minimum."

Aaron nodded his head in a sign of an agreement. "He is sophisticated and organized."

"If he works here, he would have knowledge required for such and have an easy access to the area."

"But we still can't rule out the possiblity that the killer is an outside man."

Daniel sighed. "I assure you that our base is very well secured. I doubt that anyone would be able to sneak inside and burry the bodies, especially not for two years."

"We still need to investigate every possible scenario. We will need the blue prints of this whole place, dating back two years up to now."

Daniel nodded his head, not objecting. "They are in a library. I'll show you."

"The ground here is pretty hard", he noticed. "It would require quite a physical strength and right tools to be able to dig graves here, burry the bodies in them, conceal the burial spot and do so dozens of times without ever getting caught and without making it too time consuming."

"Our killer is strong and probably has some sort of a labor job. A construction worker or road blocks operator."

"He probably works during the day time, since doing such a thing so many times without getting caught would mean that he probably does it at night."

"He probably lives alone too, at least family wise. No spouse or children, or some other family member."

"How can you know that?"

"That is common with such type of violent serial killers. Also, the closest neighborhood is ten miles away. He is obviously able to sneak out late at night and remain outside for quite a time at least every month or so without arosing suspicion. Not to mention that, after abducting them, he would have to take, torture and dismember his victims somewhere before burrying them here. That requires lots of privacy."

"Do you have any ideas as to who could be responsible for this?"

"No. I can't even imagine anyone in this world being capable of something like this."

"What about Frederic Johnson?"

"He was a confused, troubled kid. I tried helping him, we all did, but in the end he simply didn't belong here. But I don't think that he would commit something like... this."

#

Chris Callahan sighed as he walked inside his house, closing and locking the door behind. Smiling, he walked down the hallway over to the near by wardrobe, Happy to finally come home and be able to relax. He took his coat off and put it on the wardrobe.

"Honey, I'm home!", he called out, looking forward to seeing his foster daughter again after the hard day at work. He expected her to be back at home from school by that point, it was pass four pm.

He took off his shoes, opting to put on a pair of house slippers. He wasn't too surprised due to not hearing Meg's response right away, but after she didn't answer for almost a minute... he found that weird.

"Honey?", he called again, waiting for the response. There was none.

Suddenly growing worried, he walked over to Meg's room door and knocked at it.

"Meg?"

She didn't answer. After a moment of hesitation, he held at the door knob, pressed at it and opened the door, stepping aside.

It didn't take him long to notice the horrifying scene on the floor...

#

A local homicide detective, Mandy Johnson, lowered the last case box on the desk next to Kate, who was already studying the missing person's reports. "Here it is", Mandy exclaimed. "It will take you a lot of time to go through it all though. Hundreds of people had been reported missing in the area in the two year span."

"We'll make it", Kate assured her, not looking up. At first, she didn't even register her ringtone going off. Once she did, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and smiledupon seeing her husband's name on the screen. She immediately answered the call.

Chris started yelling almost immediately after. He sounded terrified. "Kate, I need you to come home. Now!"

Kate felt her blood run cold. Her husband's voice had never sounded that serious before. "What happened?", she asked, already fearing the answer.

He took a deep breath before answering. "Meg's gone...", he exclaimed, shivers evident in his voice. "And somebody is dead", he said upon taking another look on the lifeless body lying sprawled on the floor in Meg's room.

#

JJ still wasn't sure what happened while she was walking down the hallway with Hotch, she only knew that it was something about Kate. "What is going on?", JJ asked.

"Kate's niece, Meg, is missing", Aaron explained, trying to remain calm. "One of her room windows had been pulled out of it's screen, Meg's phone is left intact. The computer is gone though. There are signs of a struggle. And, last but not least, there is a dead man in her room."

JJ widened her eyes, feeling herself chill. "A dead man?"

"Greg Teeger, thirty seven. He still had a wallet with him, with a driving licence in it. And a work licence too. He had been working as a PE. Shot twice in the chest, his car was found parked near the house."

"Any ransom demands?", JJ asked.

"None yet. And things are getting worse." He took a deep breath and stopped in his tracks, turning to face JJ. "Twenty minutes ago thirteen years old Tracy Gray had been reported missing. Her parents mentioned that Meg Callahan is her best friend."

"We have to help her!", JJ cried.

Aaron shook his head and sighed. "We can't, not all of us. We have to work on this case."

"Can any other units..."

"I'd already cheeked. They can't."

JJ sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "So what will we do?"

Aaron looked down at the floor for a moment, thinking over the already made decision before looking back up and giving ordered. "You will go to Kate's house and cooperate with the local police. All of our resources are available to you, including Penelope. The rest of us will work on the case involving the military base, but we will keep in touch. If you need any help, please let us know."

JJ swallowed hard, feeling her heart beat faster, before nodding her head. "OK."

"I will inform the rest of the team soon."

#

Spencer kept walking from one torso to another, observing each and every one of them carefully. It wasn't easy, because, even to him, the sight was chilling. Derek remained near by, studying the autopsy reports some more. "According to your reports on several well preserved torsos, stomach contents were all empty", he noted.

"Yes, I couldn't find anything in them", ME confirmed, turning to face him. "But I did find traces of dust and dirt in victim's lungs. They were definitely alive at the time the traces had gotten there. I sent those samples to trace."

Spencer looked up, his face lighting up at the idea. "Maybe the unsub had been keeping them captive for a few days", he suggested. "In a basement maybe."

Derek frowned. "He could be recreating some traumatic experience from his childhood", Derek theorized as Spencer went back to studying the torsos. "But again, maybe it is just convenient for him."

"Hmmm...", Spencer exclaimed, taking a close look at one of the victim's abdomen's. Both Derek and the ME glared at him.

"Something wrong?", ME asked.

"I noticed something strange on autopsy photographs, but I can see it even more clearly now... He seems to be cutting off every limb slowly, with a great precision. Carefully even."

"They could be his trophies."

"Every limb except for the left leg. The cuts are more frequent and violent. Pretty messy work."

"That's strange."

"That scar on the abdomen... it looks like the victim had a tattoo but had it removed recently. Maybe you could give it one more look, see can you determine the pattern. It could help us identify him."

Derek pulled out his phone at the sound of his ringtone, surprised upon reading the text. "A notification. Hotch wants all of us to meet by two pm."

Spencer then pulled out his phone too, his ringtone going off also. "I got the same text."

#

Kate and Chris were sitting on the couch in the living room, facing captain Danny and detective Sara, that were sitting on the sofa posed opposite to it. They were doing their best to remain calm, but they couldn't ignore the feeling of their heart thundering against their chest, worst possible scenarios popping into their mind over and over again. JJ was walking around the room, listening to the conversation carefully. Kate knew that JJ was scared as well, nearly as much as her, and she knew that other team members were too.

"I assure you, we will do anything in our power in order to find out who did this and bring your daughter home safe", Danny exclaimed.

Sara showed them Greg's photograph again. "Are you sure that you have never seen this man before."

"We are sure", Kate answered, nodded her head. She was still going with that photograph over and over in her mind, desperately trying to remember something that could help detectives found her niece, but could think of nothing.

"I have no idea what was he doing in our house", Chris added, his voice soar as his face grew even more pale.

"We need to search his house and check his phone records and bank records, as soon as possible", JJ said. "So far, he is our strongest link in finding the abductor."

Danny nodded his head. "We will. My team is already looking at the registered sex offenders in the area."

"Forensics think that the abductor had used a crowbar or a tyre iron in order to break in", Sara pointed out, looking at JJ.

Suddenly, Kate stood up, letting out sort of a sigh; both JJ and Chris rushed over to her, worried but the sudden reaction, but she just turned to face JJ and looked calm. Concerned, but not panicking or anything.

"JJ, can I have a word with you, please?", she asked, her voice unusually low, like she was trying to hide something... or simply keep some control.

"Sure", JJ said silently before moving to the corner with Kate. She knew that she had to be careful: who knew how Kate had felt and what did she want. She couldn't imagine how she would have felt if... she suddenly thought back of the whole Izzy Rogers thing three years ago and shuddered. She barely even registered once Kate had stepped. She looked up, her eyes meeting Kate's pleading ones. She felt something ache in her chest.

"JJ, I know that... I am probably not allowed to work on this, unless I end up having some useful information, but please", first tears sparkled into her eyes while she made her plea, "let me go search that guy's house with you. Please."

"Kate", JJ started, trying to find a way to object, but ending up not finding any.

"Please", Kate repeated, ignoring the tear that rolled down her cheek. "Just that."

#

Within an hour, Kate and JJ were searching Greg's house together, with latex gloves over their hands. It was of medium size with mostly yellow and white walls, but with a big nicely decorated yard. Kate tried remaining calm, but the mere thought that she was in the house belonging to the man who was found dead in her house at the same time her niece went missing was making her shiver. And to think that some psycho... she shook with her head, feeling her gut wretch.

"I am not seeing anything useful here", she complained more than exclaimed, having just finished going through the magazines on Greg's coffee table

JJ started thinking about comforting words, but then she stood in front of the TV. "He had recently purchased a new TV", she whispered.

Kate ran over to her, thrilled at the clue finally appearing. "How do you know that?"

JJ sighed, taking another long look at the TV before explaining. "It is a new model, and marks on the table are inconsistent", JJ explained. "As of lately he started getting a regular income." She looked around, trying to think straight. "Somebody had him on his or hers pay role."

"We should tell Garcia to look into his bank records", Kate concluded.

JJ went into Greg's bedroom, closing the door behind, and took a moment to study it. On the surface it looked pretty ordinary: closet to the left, bed to the right, writing desk near the bed, with a computer, printer, cup full of pens, paper clipper and a few papers on it, and a nice green carpet on the floor.

The writing desk did have five drawers though.

JJ walked over to the desk and tried opening the drawers, but they were all locked. She remembered bringing three of the keys found in Greg's pocket with her, just in case. She quickly found the matching key, and as it turned out they matched to all the five locks. She unlocked all of them, put the key aside and began examining the first drawer.

JJ went through the drawers of his writing desk and pulled out one of the files, red with quite a few documents inside. She opened it and began examining it's content.

What she saw made her heart skip a beat, her fingers trembling at the pure chill. Her lower lip started quivering while she spoke. "Kate, look at this", she called over.

Kate rushed inside and walked over to her partner, eyes glued to the file. She widened her eyes and gasped at the sight. The file was filled with photographs of herself, Chris and Meg, showing them drive Meg to school, showing her and her husband go to work... there were even similar photographs of and her parents, all of them obviously taken secretly, from a far distance.

"He had been following us", she whispered as JJ offered her a warm gaze. "My family. And and her family", she concluded, feeling her eyes water up again.

"Maybe the abductor hired him", JJ suggested, trying to keep Kaze focused on the case. "In order to learn about your preferences and habits. And when he didn't need him anymore, he murdered him."

"I don't know", Kate said, trying to stay calm. "Why would he take his accomplice to an abduction sight?", she pointed out, trying to ignore shivers in her voice. "There is no evidence proving that Greg even knew about the plan. Also, the abduction seems well planned, while the murder was sloppy. He used Greg's own gun...", she managed to say before breaking down, sobbing uncontrollably while her lungs were fighting for air, heat rushing up her cheeks as a cold chill creeped up her spine. JJ felt her insides twist at the side, something starting to ache in her chest as a lump formed in her throat. She approaching Kate and gently wrapped her in a hug, Kate's head gently lying on her chest as JJ's hands held at her writhing shoulders.

They staid in that position for almost a minute, neither of them saying a word.

They both almost jumped in place at the sound of JJ's ringtone going off. They gently moved away as JJ pulled out her phone. They both felt a rush of thrill again Upon seeing Penelope's number on the screen. JJ answered.

"Hi, Garcia", she said in a tired but polite tone.

"Hi, girls", Garcia said, her voice soft and caring. It even made JJ smile a little. "OK, as a PE, Greg had been in contact with many people lately but what stands out are repeated incomming calls from a disposable cellphone dating as far as five months back, the last one being made some time after the murder."

"Did you manage to trace the phone?", JJ asked.

"Yes, and I had already informed a local police about it. It was purchased in a shopping mall five months ago, whoever bought it had paid in cash. They had taped over the surveillance tape for that day by now and nobody can remember anything about the customer who purchased it."

"Were you able to trace the signal", Kate asked, moving away slightly from JJ.

Penelope frowned as she slow down with the typing. "I tried to, I did my best, but was unable too", she answered as Kate's face fell, cold shivers seeping down her fists. "Apparently, it is currently turned off or broken. But I will keep trying. And I will try to find out from where the calls were made."

"OK, you do that", JJ said. "And have them check other calles too."

"Stay strong!", Garcia exclaimed before logging out.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

**Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language. **

Everyone in the confrence room remained silent for almost a full minute after Hotch had explained the situation with Kate. Aaron looked at them with concern, knowing that he had to make sure for them to stay professional and for the team to keep together.

"Somebody abducted her niece?", Derek asked, like he still couldn't believe it.

"Yes, it looks so", Aaron confirmed. "And her niece's friend, probably."

"Is that why JJ is gone?", Spencer asked, sounding alarmed.

"Yes, she will work on that case alongside with the local police", Aaron answered calmly. "Garcia will help them with them technical stuff. Once we finish our work here, some of you can join. But hopefully the girl will be rescued by then. You will be notified about any important developments in the investigation, but just to remind you, you don't work on that case. You have to focus on the current case, on the serial killer thst had been burrying people in the Base."

Everyone nodded their heads, looking down at the floor, and said nothing. Aaron waited for a moment, allowing that realization to sink in, before speaking up.

"David, go pick up Frederic for questioning. Me and Derek will go interrogate soldiers and employes currently stationated in the base. Spencer, keep studying the blue prints and forensic reports, maybe you will find out something new."

#

Chloe cried as a strong man pulled her out of the trunk of his van, parked in front of the cabin in the forest. She almost lost balance and fell down to the ground when a man let go of her in order to pull Tracy out as well. They both had her wrists binded with duct tape, that was also used to tape their mouth. Man walked over to the cabin and unlocked the door, keeping an eye on them the whole time, then opened the door, turn the lights on inside, walked back over to them and pushed them inside. They both cried upon landing on the floor, hitting with their back against the wall. They stared at their abductor in terror, their hearts beating in their throats at the anticipation.

The man just stood there for some time, staring at them. His lips formed into a vulgar grin and he let out a wicked chuckled. But then he just closed and locked the front door, turn the lights off, and went into the room near by, closing the door behind and leaving the girls there in the dark.

#

David knocked to the Amy Johnson's house door twice before she opened.

"Who are you?", she asked, obviously surprised to see him.

"I'm agent David Rossi", David exclaimed, flashing his badge. "I have to talk to Frederic."

Amy frowned at him. "Why?"

"We have to ask him a few questions. There had been..."

Suddenly, David heard some commotion, coming from Frederic's room. He pulled out his gun and rushed inside, despite Amy's protests. He ran into Frederic's room and found him escaping through the window.

"Stop!", he yelled. Frederic didn't listen. David jumped throghu the window and started running after him, with a gun in hand. Before Frederic managed to make it to the fence door, David jumped at him and tackled him down to the ground, immediately handcuffing him.

#

JJ and Danny both had notepad and pens in their hands, carefully writing notes while sitting on the couch in the living room, opposite to Tracy's parents, Sheila and Carlto, talking to them. "I don't understand how could that happen", Sheila whispered in shock, her eyes watery as she clasped her hands together. Her husband held at her tightly while she looked up at Danny and JJ. "Tracy is a good kid. We taught her to be careful and..."

She suddenly broke down, sobbing and burrying her face in her hands. A tear rolled down Carlton's cheek as his wife laid her head at his shoulder. JJ felt her stomach sink, sight making her remember Kate, a hurt look on her face, and danger that faced both Kate's niece and Tracy. It took her a few seconds to continue, her words coming out slower than usual.

"Unfortunately, child abductors are good at finding ways to take the children", she explained, feeling herself shiver. "But we are very good at catching them too", she added, the statement providing her little comfort.

"Have you noticed anyone strange moving around the neighborhood lately?", Danny asked. "Anything suspicious? Any changes in Tracy's behavior?"

"No, I don't think so", Carlton's answered, shooking his head before swallowing hard, drops of sweat coating his face.

"She was a good girl. Everything seemed normal until..." She found no strength needed to finish that sentence.

#

Danny just finished pulling the latex gloves over his hands once JJ and he went into Tracy's room, locking the door behind.

"I told the forensics to wait with the examination until you have a look", he explained. JJ just nodded her head. She started going around the room, studying it... and the mess. Chair knocked to the floor. A poster pulled off the wall. Lamp stane, broken and knocked over. The window had been forced open. The tool marks on the frame looked very similar to the ones she had noticed in Chloe's room

"Obviously, he abducted Tracy the same way he abducted Chloe... definitely the work of the same abductor", she concluded, whole Danny was going through Tracy's notebooks. "He knew very well how to break in and where. He had been stalking her too."

She took another look around the room, her eyes landing on the big empty spot on the writing desk. "Her computer is missing too, as well as her phone." She turned facing Danny, eyes wide. "The abductor took them, just like he did with Chloe."

"Maybe trophies?"

"Or he stalked them... maybe even met them via social networks and took the laptop and the smartphone in order to hide that fact."

"We tried to track the signal. Nothing."

"He is obviously sophisticated, but not enough, judging by the mess. I would say that this is probably his first abduction, but he did abduct two girls on the same day. That is unusual for an amateur. Maybe he had just been inactive for a while." She pulled out her phone. "I will tell Garcia to look into the similar cases in the area, dating back up to twenty years. And have her concentrate on the ones where the abductors have recently been paroled or never caught. I don't want to risk anything. Since he had broken in and abducted them, he probably isn't too good with social interaction. I will tell her to look for the ones with low-profile jobs."

Danny nodded her head. "My men are looking for any traffic cameras in the area. Maybe he got caught on tape."

#

Frederic Johnson, young tall African American man with short brown hair and brown eyes, looked more ashamed and scared while sitting at the table in the interrogation room, waiting for David to arrive. Once he did, David took a seat opposite to Frederic, who refused to look at him. "Why were you running away?", David asked softly.

Frederic shrugged, looking away.

"We searched your house and found nothing linking you that murders. Your house is pretty small for you to be doing... such things in there."

Nothing.

David took some time to observe him, then leaned in closer, lowering his voice. "Something about your black eye?"

Frederic remained silent, just staring at the wall. At first. But after some time, he nodded his head.

"What happened?"

No response.

"You can tell me."

Frederic looked up at him, looking very irritated. "I got into a fight last night. In a bar. I though you came to my place because of that. I know nothing about the murders. Search my room, take me fingerprints, DNA, whatever you need. I had nothing to do with that."

"Where do you usually spend your nights?"

Frederic sighed, blushing a little. "At bars. Clubs. Sometimes my aunt makes me stay at home. I pay with a credit card from time to time. You can check."

"We will."

Frederic shuddered, looking down at the floor again. "I tried. Being a good soldier and all. I really tried. But all that pressure... it was too much. I had a buddy smuggle a drink or two for me. One after lunch at first. Then two. Then three after lunch and one before going to sleep. I started slipping. And before I knew it... it was all over. Ruined."

"I understand", David said, sympathetically.

"You don't", Frederic scoffed, looking away again.

"I do", David said reassuringly. "I was pretty much like you back in the days. But I managed to pull out of that. And I am sure that you can too, if you try. Maybe not be come a soldier, but you can make something out of yourself."

Frederic just stared at him, unable to think of what to say. David pulled out a card from his wallet and handled it to him. "I know some people. Once we let you go-and I have a feeling that will be soon, you should give them a call."

"Thanks", Frederic said, showing the card down his pocket.

David stood up and was about to leave, when he stopped and turned towards the young man.

"Hey", David called, making Frederic look up.

"Cheer up", David said, forming a small smile and making Frederic smile slightly too.

#

Derek walked into the office with a case file in his hand, finding Spencer standing in front of the board, blue prints hanging from it, many smaller copies all over the floor. Spencer's eyes kept flowing from one blue print to another. He would occasionally jump from side to side and write notes, only to go back to his previous actions immediately afterward. He couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of him, taking a moment to enjoy in the always extraordinary sight before speaking up.

"Hey, pretty boy!"

Spencer jumped in place, immediately turning to face Derek. "Yeah?", he asked, his facial expression a mixture of concern and curiosity.

Derek held out the case file. "Penelope cross matched that information with the missing persons reports regarding middle aged Caucasian men who had been reported missing during the last two months and found a match. Cindy DuBois, forty two. He went missing a month ago. His wife mentioned him used to having that tattoo and had it removed. We are waiting for DNA confirmation, but it looks like that is him. But Garcia couldn't find anyone connected to him who had been reported missing, dating back two years or more. Unfortunately, it really looks like this unsub is targeting random victims. We've already eliminated Frederic. Garcia found two guys who had received a dishonourable discharge, but they both have an alibi for the week when Cindy had disappeared." He turned his attention to the board. "I see you had been busy."

Spencer immediately stared explaining his conclusions, his voice filled with energy and excitement as usual, his hands flowing all over the face as he gave the summation. "I thought that the killer might have been climbing over the fence, in the back part of the base, on the part where security is rudymental, but that would have been too complicated and time consuming, especially to do so thirty times. I though about the killer maybe making a copy of the needed key somehow, but after finding out that he would need about seven keys and that they had changed keys three times in the last two years, I quickly ruled that out. Upon closer examination of the blue print, I have recovered a small hole somewhere around 45'25"", but after some investigation I found out that it is too small for anyone to sneak inside. I had even considered the possibility of the killer gainting access to the base from the air, via some sort of a helicopter, but the area where the bodies were found is a way too small for landing and it is very unlikely that the security wouldn't have spotted it, especially not thirty times." He took a deep breath. "Long story short, there is no way that the killer is somebody from outside the base. Even if he is, he is at least cooperating with somebody who works there. But the killer is probably an employe."

Derek glared at him. "Spencer, are you sure that you are not... trying too hard? Due to what is happening to Kate?"

Spencer stopped for a moment, clasping his hands together. "Well, my friend is upset and I can't help her", he explained. "I can't talk to her or even work on the case, so I may as well try to bring justice to these victims and find this guy before he kills somebody else."

Derek nodded his head in a sign of an understanding. "Anyway, now you will need Penelope to check has any of the employees lost a spouse or a family member with an amputation shortly before the killings started, has anyone been visiting a psychiatrist or tried having some sort of plastic surgery that failed, has any of them witnessed some sort of a violent crime in their childhood. It will be hard, but it is a good start."

"She is already searching everything about them."

"And judging by the brutality and sophisticated mature of the crime, the killer is probably a man in his early thirties to early fifties. That should narrow it down."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I don't own any od the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

**Pleasw forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.**

In the local precinct, Derek was sitting in the interrogation room opposite to Wendy, Cindy's wife. She was still shaking slightly, tears coating her face and her eyes red and puffy, and she was holding a wet, wrinkled tissue in her hand.

Derek nodded his head. "We still have to run DNA testing in order to be completely sure, but everything seems to add up. The description, the tattoo... I'm sorry", he said

Wendy cried, her chest heaving at the pressure.

"I... I still can't believe that he's dead", she whispered, staring blankly at the desk, tears running down her face.

"It's alright. Take it slow", Derek assured Wendy, studying her carefully and waiting for her to calm down. Once she stopped crying and began breathing normally, he started asking questions.

"Did he have any enemies? Anyone who would want to hurt him?"

"No", Wendy answered after a short thinking, shaking her head. He was well liked and everything. Everything seemed perfect...", she managed to say before letting out a dob again, pulling her right hand over her face and squeezing the tissue tightly in her left one.

"Did he seem stressed out or strange in the days leading up to his disappearance?", Derek asked.

"No. He had a time off from work due to some renovations at his workplace at the time and would spend a lot of time on his computer, but that's all." "He just went out for a jogging one day and never went back."

Derek glared at her. "Your husband was an athletic type?"

"Yes", Wendy confirmed, nodding her head. "He was a big football star in High school... that's where we met. He would go jogging at least once a week. He even practiced a weight lifting."

#

The interrogation of the soldiers and employees was taking place at the small took in the back of the base, consisting of a medium size table in the very end of the room, several chairs, two of them placed in front of the table at the opposite sides, and a big book case behind the table. The walls were grey, as well as the ceiling, the hardwood floor was pale, the room smelled of a detergeant. Hotch was twirling the pen in his hand, having a notepad placed on the table in front of him, before locking eyes with the person also sitting at the table, opposite to him: young soldier, named Raymond Tanner, dressed in a military uniform.

"Have you ever noticed anything suspicious lately? Somebody moving around that field a lot, especially at night, when he shouldn't have?", Aaron asked.

"No, sir", Raymond answered, firmly and emotionlessly..

Hotch frowned at him. "Can you think of anyone who would be capable of doing such a thing?"

"No, sir", Raymond answered firmly, again

Aaron observed Raymond carefully, finding his demenaour odd. Deciding to change the tactic, he leaned over to Howard, lowering his voice. "There is no reason to be afraid. You can tell us anything. Any possible lead can help us."

Raymond remained silent for a few seconds, even flinching a little. But his answer wasn't much different from the previous ones. "I know that, sir. But unfortunately I don't know anything that could help you."

He didn't have much luck with the next soldier, Robert Elkins, either.

"I and the other guys would run there at least once a week", he commented, slight chill in his voice. "I can't believe that the bodies had been buried there."

"But you didn't notice anything suspicious?"

"No", Ronald answered, shaking his head. "All our other activities take place far away from that place and we are supposed to be to bed by ten pm anyway, sir."

"Anyone acting especially strange or violent lately? A fellow soldier, an employe..."

After a short thinking, Ronald shook his head. "I hadn't seen anything, sir."

And he definitely had no luck with the third soldier, Wilhelm Heffernan, tall and buff young man with short brown hair and brown eyes, who would constantly lean over towards him, with a deadly serious look on his face, apparently certain that his theories were the best clue the FBI could get in order to solve the case.

"I think that Al-Qaeda is involved", he said.

Aaron glared at him. "Ala-Qeda?"

"They had turned to more subtle ways to ruin us now. Starting with creating a bad publicity regarding an USA army."

Aaron frowned. "That is your theory?"

Wilhelm leaned back and shrugged. "Do you have a better idea?", he asked, matter of factly.

#

David was also interrogating soldiers and employees, in a room nect to the one where Aaron was staying: the rooms were quite similar, except the second one was smaller and had pale green wallpapers plastered on the walls. Opposite to him sat Chow, young Asian man with short black hair and black eyes, wearing a military uniform and boots.

"Sometimes, if you think back on the events, with another perspective, you can remember many useful things that you at first didn't", David explained.

"I know nothing, sir."

The next one to be interrogated was fifty years old Amy McCoy, a blonde haired woman dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans, who worked there as a cook.

"My father died in Vietnam. My son is serving a tour in Iraq. I am currently unemployed. Volounteering, here, seemed like a good thing to do."

"That's nice", David acknowledged, writing that down. "And you had been here for the last three years?"

"Yes. I have no idea who would be able to do this. It still feels unreal."

When the interrogations finally ended, it was night. They still had a few more people to interrogate, but decided to leave it for tomorrow. Aaron and David met in the hallway in front of the coffee machine, David having already taken his cup of coffee and Aaron only going to get his.

"Well, that was a hard work proven useless", David commented.

"Yes, nobody really had much to say", Aaron agreed. Then he frowned. "But their answers seemed kinda... strange. Almost rehersed."

David nodded his head. "True." He raised his eyebrows. "You wanna bet that they had a talk with the sergeant?"

"The question is, did he only taught then how to behave or what to say too?"

"I'm going to tell Penelope to look into him."

#

"Please!", Meg cried, her heart thundering against her chest. She looked at her friend. Tracy was crying and wouldn't say anything. She was looking down at the floor.

"Please!", Meg cried again. In the next moment, the door swung open. Her abductor was standing there, a mask over his face. He growled.

"Please...", Meg whispered. "I have to use a bathroom..."

An abductor stared at her for some time, then grabbed her by the neck and dragged her in the room near by, ignoring her increasing cries.

#

The next morning, after a sleepless night and no new leads, Danny and JJ went on to examine Chloe's and Tracy's personal idoms."With all due respect, I don't see how will going through Chloe's school books and notebooks help us", Danny said, reading Chloe's English homework.

JJ was flipping through Chloe's Geography book. "Children often write things there, notes... who knows what we can find."

JJ almost jumped in her seat at the sound of her ringtone going off: she pulled out her phone and, upon seeing that Penelope was calling her, immediately answered and put her on speaker.

"Talk to us, Penelope."

Penelope was excited, talking really fast and still typing. "So, I've managed to locate from where the calls had been made. They had all been made in this city, but in a wide area, twenty mile radius. None lasted ling enough for me to be able to determine the exact location. There are nine registered sex offenders in the area, four of them released within a year, but neither of them targeted the girls of Chloe's age."

"We still have to check them", JJ noted.

"I checked his bank records too", Garcia exclaimed. "One thing stands out. Starting since the last five months, Greg would deposit five hundred dollars to his account every week, listed as a consulting feed. All of it checks signed by a man named Howard Griffith, money being deposited from his account. But the problems is, Howard Griffith is a seventy four year old man, a retired construction worker, in a coma for over a year following a stroke. His only surviving family is a son who currently lives in France and has last traveled back a week ago, presumably to visit his father."

"Somebody had stolen his identity", Danny concluded.

JJ nodded her head. "Banks don't check the handwriting unless necessary, only a signature and a social security number."

Penelope continued. "The only other calls made from that number were made to a personal phone belonging to a woman named Haley Eckhart, thirty years old, also a PE. While most of the calls to Greg were made during the day, most of the calls to were made during the night."

"Double shift", Danny concluded, JJ nodding her head in an agreement. "They had both been stalking Chloe and Tracy. Greg during the day and Haley during the night."

"Yes, Greg had changed his work schedule from eight am to three pm to three to twelve pm shortly before the payoffs started", Penelope confirmed. "Probably so he could still take other clients while stalking Chloe and Tracey. Haley's work schedule had been from eight am to three pm and staid that way."

"Thank you, Penelope", JJ said before ending the call. Then she turned to face Derek. "We have to arrest Haley and search her premises, as soon as possible."

"I'll work on getting the warrants", Danny said, standing up.

#

Spencer was walking back and forty through the conference room, while Derek, Aaron and David were sitting at the desks, studying the missing person's reports that he had provided them. "I've spent most of my free time as well as the most of the night going through the missing person's reports dating back two years up until a week ago", he explained. "I've managed to eliminate four hundred cases. We have to look in to the remaining hundred in order to identify the rest of the victims and maybe find something that will lead us to the killer."

"Hopefully, most of them have DNA profile written into the missing person's database", Derek commented.

At that moment, a policecaptain walked in, breathing heavily. He looked excited."We just got a call. A fisherman spotted several severed human legs floating in the river."

Derek and Aaron immediately stood up. David just stared at. Spencer immediately started thinking about what that meant. "Floating would suggest that they had been thrown in there recently", he explained. "The cases may not necessarily be connected."

"But it's still a lead", Aaron said, taking his coat. "Let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

**Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.**

Kate woke up at seven am, immediately groaning due to a feeling of weakness in her whole body that was barely, if at all, times down by sleeping-actually, she wasn't even aware of it until she spent five hours not worrying about her niece. She wasn't even aware of her problems at first, but her mind instinctively tried coming up with the answers to her condition: just as her eyesight stopped being all blurry, she remembered.

She first felt a sense of panic, knowing that five hours had passed: she quickly found her phone (it was on the bedside table) and checked it.

What she saw made her feel like all the energy had been drained from her body.

No calls, no texts.

She thought about calling JJ, but she knew that if she had discovered something important, something that she could inform her of at the moment, she would have called right away, even that early in the morning.

She sighed, letting her head hit the pillow and trying to hold back tears that already threatened to stream down her office.

Chris sat up im the bed, groaning as he rubbed his eyes. Kate doubted that he had slept at all. He looked at her, worry in his eyes.

"Are you OK?", he asked, knowing that was a pretty stupio question, but unable to think of anything else.

Kate tried to answer, but once her eyes met his, she felt a lump form in her throat and her mouth grow dry, and the only thing that she was able to do was shake her head from side to side, her lips pressed tightly together.

Chris sighed, obviously trying to think of something that would comfort her, but not finding the right words. Instead, he just leaned over and wrapped her into a tight hug.

"Everything will be alright", he whispered. "They will find her", he said softly.

Kate sighed, her eyes watery, and pressed her hands tightly against his back. "I wish I could be... you know... looking for her."

Chris nodded his head, gently running his hand down her back. "I know."

#

JJ and Danny sneaked up to Haley Eckhart's house door, their guns pulled. The door was big and brown, the house being small and pointed red but with the small but nice ride, an elm tree growing near by. They exchanged an eye contact and Danny tried opening the door: it was unlocked. Without another thought, they rushed inside. "Haley Eckhart, FBI!"

The blonde was sitting on the couch in front of TV, completely oblivious at first. When she realized what was going on, she jumped, terrified, and raised her hands.

"Don't shoot!", she cried.

Danny remained standing in front of her, with gun pointed to her head, while JJ went on to search other rooms. "Where are the girls, Haley?"

"I don't know what are you talking about."

JJ returned, looking disappointed, and holstering her gun. "They aren't here."

Barely half an hour after her arrest, Haley was sitting at the table in the interrogation room, opposite to Danny and JJ, desperately trying to explain her involvement in all then.

"We found this hidden under the mattress of your bed", JJ explained, showing the photographs of Kate's and Tracy's family to her. "And we checked your bank records."

Haley leaned over, trying to sound convincing. "Look, I had done nothing wrong!", she exclaimed, then stopped for a second, trying to sound calmer. "Some woman called me about five months ago and arranged a meeting. Whenbwe met, she gave me that woman's address and showed me some photographs. She told me that and offered to hire me to follow them."

Danny glared at her. "And you had been doing that for five months?"

"Yes", Haley admitted, leaning back in her chair. "She was paying me well."

"You didn't find it suspicious that there was a man's name signed on the checks?", JJ asked.

Haley shrugged. "She told me that it was her grandfather's name, that he was paying for it. We would meet once every week in a park and she would givie me the check. Sure, odd, but I've seem stranger things."

Danny still wasn't entirely convinced."You managed to stalk them both simultaneously?"

"Not literally in the same time, but I've managed to pull it off. It was easy to fill in the blanks when needed. I know nothing about the other guy, abduction or the murder!"

"Where were you today between eight and three pm?", JJ asked.

"At home, working", Haley answered after a short thinking. "Check my date book. I had several clients. They can confirmed that."

"And you hadn't noticed anything suspicious while following those families?", JJ asked.

"No. But she kept hiring me. I had to give her all the photographs too. I kept the copies, in case she were to hire me to do some more investigating work regarding that family. Today, at about five pm, she called me and ended the whole thing. She sounded kinda upset."

"Do you know the woman's name?", Danny asked.

Haley frowned. "She mentioned it when we first met. I think her name is... Wendy... Wendy Twain."

JJ almost scoffed at her. "Really? You didn't find that suspicious?"

Haley stared daggers at the agent. "I guess my mind was busy with the check that she had showed me."

"Do you know anything else about her? Where she lives? Where she works?", Danny asked.

"No", Haley answered after a short thinking, shaking her head. "I'm sorry."

"Can you describe her?", Danny asked.

"Caucasian, in mid twenties, cute, average height and weight. Shoulder length red hair. She would wear jeans jackets and sunglasses a lot. And... Yes, she had that scar on the right fist. She seemed to be covering it with a make up most of the time, but she had her days."

Danny and JJ exchanged a look and, without saying a word, went outside, closing the door behind.

"Anyway, we got a forensic's report", Danny said. All usable fingerprints found in Meg's and Tracy's room match to either victim's themselves or victim's parents. All biological traces found on both beds are only saliva and sweat. They rushed with the DNA analysis and confirmed that all samples match to the girl's, as well as all the hairs found on the bed and on the bedroom carpet. All the blood found in Meg's room matches to the victim. They found a dent in the ground in Callahan's back yard that looked like a partial shoe print, but there are no thread marks. And since it is a partial print, they can't even determine the size."

"Mask, gloves, shoe convers, he took the computers with him, made sure that nobody would see him... great", JJ groaned.

"By the depth of the print, they think that whoever left it is between 5'7 and 5'10 tall and between hundred and fifty and hundred and fifty five pounds weight. But that doesn't help us much at the moment." "If he had been communicating with those girls online, probably for months. That probably helped him find out their habits, learn about their parents, making him easier for him to abduct them. But why not simply use that trust to rule them away? It would have been easier."

"Maybe he didn't want to take such a risk. Or he tried doing so, girl's refused and cut the contacts but didn't tell their parents for some reason, so he had to change his plan and abduct them before somebody would find out." JJ sighed and pulled out her phone. "I can't believe that I am saying this, but I will tell Garcia to check does somebody named Wendy Twain lives in the area."

"We should try and find out who had stolen Howard Griffith's identity", Danny said.

#

Aaron looked around, studying the area. "It would have been easy for a killer to drive by, dump the body parts into a river and drive away without anyone noticing."

They exchanged glances and walked over to the small table near by, concerned with plastic tart, where the legs were laying. ME was standing by, having just finished an intial examination.

"Three legs are likely the ones of a Caucasian women, one of African American man and one of African American woman", he explained. "They had both been cut off with some sort of a handsaw, while the victims were still alive. They hadn't been in the water for long, a few hours the most. Judging by the purple stains on the skin, all of the limbs were kept in some sort of a freezer for quite some time, but not equally long."

"We will have to wait for DNA analysis and tool mark comparisson to be sure that this is connected to the military base case", Derek noted.

ME looked up at them. "There is one more thing. It is hard to tell due to a freezer and water, but I've noticed a biological traces on all five limbs. Probably semen."

"We might be dealing with an acrotomophile", David concluded.

"But why dispose of the legs now?", Spencer asked.

"He heard of the torsos being discovered and panicked", Derek theorized.

"Yes, but if he had killed thirty people, where are other legs? And arms? Why dump five legs-all from different bodies-in a river?"

They noticed Mandy Johnson walking over to them, holding a tablet in his hands. "We may have a clue", she announced. "Some of my men searched the area and managed go find a surveillance tape. There aren't many people here in the morning, so it may be important."

They all gathered over a tablet as Mandy played the tape. It showed a glimpse of a red SUV driving near the cafe a few miles away.

"A red SUV", Aaron concluded. "But the quality isn't very good and neither is the angle. There is no good look at the licence plate, or the driver."

"He looks like a Caucasian man, in early thirties", Derek noted..

"Maybe Penelope can clean it", David suggested.

Spencer frowned, having noticed something. "Play it again, please", he asked, staring at the screen. Mandy played the tape again.

"Wait...", Spencer suddenly said, making Mandy freeze the image. "Look at the sides. This car is pretty dirty. The area around the lake is actually pretty clean, but there are many roads near by, passings through the small forests and deserted tracks about twenty miles away."

"Meaning that the killer probably doesn't live close by", Aaron concluded.

"That makes for a lot of driving, and on the tape the car is moving pretty slowly... maybe he stopped at the gas station somewhere", David concluded.

"We have to widen the search", Aaron announced.

#

Andrew Cooper, a dark haired Caucasian man of average height and weight, sighed, partially in relief, partially in frustration, as Aaron and Derek walked into the interrogation room, sitting at the table opposite to him, with case files in their hands. "Did you have to arrest me in front of my boss and my co workers?", he asked, sounding annoyed... and concerned.

Aaron remained calm. "Yes, because you purchased a gas on the gas station ten miles away from the river where five human legs had been found this morning. And your car matches to the one videotaped driving in the area a few miles away from that river this morning."

"I drove around town before going to school. To relax. Is that a crime?"

"They are searching your house right now, Greg", Derek informed him. "We already found mannequins hidden in your basement." Greg flinched and swallowed hard. "With removed legs, hidden under your bed." A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead. "Our friends in the DA are working on getting a warrant to obtain your DNA and fingerprint samples."

"They found traces of semen on the legs", Aaron informed him. Greg looked away, running his hand through his hair. "It is yours, isn't it? Forensics will prove that."

Greg leaned over to them, lowering his voice. "Look, I... I just wanted the legs", he said, finding it difficult to think of the words.

"So you killed all those people?", Derek accused him.

"I didn't!", George cried, then ran his hands down his face and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Look... for years, I had been visiting that websites... pornographic websites... with such material. But I would only grow to want more and more. So I started stealing mannequinss and... you know. Then I'd stumbled upon that site... obviously an illegal one... where you can buy... such things."

Aaron glared at him. "Legs?"

"Yes. And arms. I thought that the guy had been robbing graves or something. There are legs there, photographs, prices, all. You can make an account, choose a leg and sent an email to the Admin. He sends you an account number and you have to transfer your money to it. Then he senses you an address, you go there and find the leg. It is usually an abandoned building or some hollow tree in a park. I purchased five legs in one year. I would keep them in my freezer. When I heard about that dismembered torsos, I panicked. I figured, maybe that's how that guy was getting the legs. I don't live close to that river but I would sometimes go fishing here. I drove there this morning, before going to work, and dumped the legs in the river."

Aaron and Derek exchanged glances, finding the story completely unbelievable.

"It is all on a secret browser on my computer. Check it."

#

JJ was walking back and forth in Howard Griffith's house, looking around. It was a Very big room, walls painted, couch in one corner, coffee table in front of it, TV about seven feet away on the table. Danny was searching the drawers, examining every notebooks, paper or an old bill. They both had latex gloves over their hands.

"This house looks pretty tidy", JJ noted, picking up an old newspaper from the coffee table.

"The guy had been in a coma for over a year", Danny noted. "Somebody must be taking care of it."

"There are no records of that."

"A check book. Containing the checks of the same kind like the ones used to pay George and Haley." "We should talk to the neighbors."

JJ went through her notepady "Howard's next door neighbor is thirty years old Jake Pokelwadt, a painter."

Within minutes, they were standing in front of the neighbor's front door, ringing at the doorbell. Jake Pokelwadt, a tall and thin man in early thirties with short brown hair and brown eyes, dressed in a blue T-shirt and jeans, opened the door almost immediately.

"Hello?", he said, obviously surprised to see them in front of his door.

JJ immediately flashed her badge. "FBI. Jake Pokelwadt?"

"That's me", he answered, nodding his head, obviously kinda unsettled. "What do you need?"

"It is about your neighbor", Danny said. We think that somebody had stolen his identity. That somebody is using his check book and withdrawing money from his account while he is in a coma."

Jake gasped silently. "Oh my God..."

"May we come in?", JJ asked.

"Sure", Jake said, stepping aside. Danny and JJ walked in, closing the door behind.

"How close were you two?", Danny asked while JJ walked down the hallway, looking around.

"Pretty close", Jake said. He knew my dad. I would sometimes mow his lawn or help him tidy up the house."

"He would pay you?", Danny asked.

"Yes", Jake confirmed, nodding his head. "But I don't have anything to do with this, if that's what you're wondering."

"You have a girlfriend?", JJ suddenly asked, turning to face him. She noticed many photographs on the wall, showing a petite brunette in her late twenties.

Jake widened his eyes and clasped hid hands together, obviously surprised by that question. "I had", he answered awkwardly. "We had broken up a month ago. I still didn't get around to take the photographs of." He sighed, looking down at the floor for a moment and running his hand through his hair. "I am not sure if I want too", he admitted under his breath.

JJ continued studying those photographs: she widened her eyes upon noticing a scar on girlfriend's right fist. "What is her name?", JJ asked.

"Lucy Smith", Jake answered, frowning at her. "Why is that important."

JJ shrugged. "Just asking", she said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Where were you yesterday between eight and three pm?", Danny asked, trying to distract Jake.

"Well, I'm a painter. I was working. At home. Alone." He frowned, remembering something. "But I ordered a pizza at about two pm." He went to the kitchen, Danny looking after him. "I have a receipt somewhere in the kitchen...", he exclaimed, going through that drawers. "If that helps..."

JJ waves he hand at Danny, calling him over. He moved few steps away from the kitchen, as JJ raised one of the photographs in front of him. "Look at this."

"Except for the hair color, she matches to description that Lucy had provided us. And she has a scar on her right fist."

"This photograph had been taken a few months ago, probably shortly before the break up. You can tell by the newspaper in the background." She handled the photograph to Danny. "Look at the patch on her jacket", she advised.

Danny quickly found that spot on the photograph carefully looked at that part: it took him a while to make out all the details. "She works in Quantico Military Base", he concluded, looking up at JJ as his eyes widened. He frowned. "Wasn't there something on the news..."

JJ nodded her head. "They found thirty human bodies buried there. The rest of the unit that I am a part of are working on that case as I speak."

"You think that the cases may be connected?", Danny asked.

"I don't know, but I have to inform them about this", JJ said, pulling out her phone. "And issue a warrant for Lucy arrest."

#

Lucy was holding at the steering wheel tightly, digging her nails into the leather, her jaw clenched, drops of sweat rolling down her face. Black SUV was driving down the deserted road during the hot summer afternoon. She swallowed hard and took another look at the gun on the passenger seat.

And so, the game was on.

~I will hurt you for this. I don't know how yet, but give me time. A day will come when you think yourself safe and happy, and suddenly your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you'll know the debt is paid. George R.R. Martin~

~THE END~

**A/N: Cliffhanger! Cliffhanger!**

**Just kidding. Part two-a sequel-will be published soon. Since the real episode will air soon, you will be able to tell me which version do you like better :) Until then...**


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